![]() ![]() Even movies that do that sort of thing badly, or it's like, "Oh, of course, this turns out." And it's like, "Oh, I was quite surprised." I also read Rebecca Wells has a whole series like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I'm just sitting back and along for the ride, which is very relaxing. I went to go see Knives Out recently, and even in action movies, when there's an element of mystery, no part of my brain is trying to figure it out. Sarah Enni: I feel that way about movies. Miranda Popkey: Oh yeah, I can imagine getting bored, if you were able to figure out what was happening before the book was ready to reveal it to you. Sarah Enni: But was that part of the enduring appeal do you think? That you were always taken by surprise? Although I could never tell, and this is still true, I could never tell who did it. I read a lot of Agatha Christie's, I loved mysteries. Sarah Enni: She's the Angela Lansbury in this. She was just an old lady who was also in this hotel. I read one Miss Marple and I was like, "She didn't solve that mystery. Miranda Popkey: In a bit of foreshadowing though, because that is now like, "Oh, I fucking.Oh, I love the Caro books. Sarah Enni: That was the one that was like, "Mm, this is not.". ![]() ![]() And I tried to read that, and that was truly above my reading level.(But she loves the Caro books on Johnson now, which also includes Master of the Senate and Means of Ascent ). And he had a copy, it must've been Paths to Power, which is the first LBJ book of the Caro biographies, which are still ongoing. Sarah Enni: I mean, that's how my dad was for sure. Dads have never run across a book about World War II that they don't want to buy and read. I didn't realize later how much of a trope that is. Sarah Enni: That feels like a very "dad book". Just because my dad didn't have a lot of novels in the house, but he did have a lot of massive books of nonfiction. I remember reading David McCullough's Truman biography when I was, I don't know, eight or nine. I was a pretty voracious and a pretty indiscriminate reader. Sarah Enni: I'd to hear how reading and writing was part of growing up for you. Miranda Popkey: Yeah, up through high school until I went to college. Because that is my first question, is where were you born and raised? So Santa Cruz, was that all the way up through college? The ocean was peripheral to her life as well. Sarah Enni: She was not much of a surfer. Miranda Popkey: She wasn't much of a surfer, put it that way. I don't think my main character was, I don't know. And listen, Santa Cruz has all types of people, so that's fantastic. And occasionally was like, "I guess the ocean exists." But I hope I was helpful to you. I think I warned you before that conversation that I was a very particular kind of Santa Cruz resident in that I did not interact with Santa Cruz at all, and mostly just stayed inside and read. And you helped me when I was writing Tell Me Everything because you are from Santa Cruz. Sarah Enni: An esteemed author friend who is fabulous. Listen to her First Draft interview here, and her mailbag episode here! You can read them write about their friendship in The Atlantic’s Friendship Files here, and in the Two Bossy Dames newsletter here, and they shout out First Draft, too!) Sarah Enni: Yes, you and I have chatted before because you are friends with Zan Romanov (author of A Song to Take the World Apart, Grace and the Fever, and the forthcoming Look. Miranda Popkey: I'm very excited to be here. I'm so excited to chat with you in person and get to talk about Topics of Conversation. So it felt appropriate to sit down and discuss Miranda's brilliant, smart, and emotionally rich debut novel. Topics is about how women craft their own stories through conversation, to explain themselves to themselves, and to survive. I loved how Miranda was ready to get into her experience as an entry level editor in publishing, and all that taught her about the industry. This week I'm talking to Miranda Popkey, essayist and debut author of Topics of Conversation. Sarah Enni: Welcome to First Draft with me, Sarah Enni. ![]()
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